Oil leak/burning smell

[JUS2K]

Burning oil smell while driving and after car being driven. Very pronounced while driving with heater on. No smell with AC on, tho. Evidence of oil dripping/seeping/running underneath last 2 exhaust pipes. New v/c gasket installed with no sign of leaking on top of exhaust manifold. Also, a drop or two under car below driver-side. New oil filter housing block seal and dipstick o-ring. I thought there was mentioned something about an o-ring somewhere on the back of the head. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead for your support, gang!

[LuxoM3]

Valve cover gasket still leaking... time for a new valve cover. It leaks along the back rim of the valve cover - where the half moons are and along the bottom rim near the exhaust - thus why you smell burning oil.

I have a 1995 M3. The previous owner and ME went through 12 valve cover gaskets in the life of the car. I got used to smelling burning oil...

But one day, I bit the bullet and ordered a NEW valve cover. $200. Popped it on. No more oil leaks or smells.

It's a REALLY common issue issue with the metal valve cover 3-series cars.

[ekib]

Yeah. I'd say still valve cover gasket leaking.
Luxo, during those 12 valve cover gaskets, have you tried using varying amounts of sealant? I am just wondering if adding more sealant to compensate for old valve cover might fix the problem to some extent...

[LuxoM3]

ekib:

Yeah I tried EVERY cheap way to make it work... I gooped (rtv silicon for gaskets) the half moons toward the back of the motor, I tried no goop whatsoever... I tried goop ALL the way around the heads... I even bought a used valve cover... and yes i bought new rubber washers at least 3 of those times too...

leaks leaks leaks...


So for the price of the valve cover gaskets alone ($25 x 12)... I could have bought a new valve cover almost twice over! :)

I talked to a couple of guys on BF.com too... it's a weird thing with that metal valve cover... you can line up a metal ruler and the cover LOOKS straight... but the older ones tended to warp... so I think they all do it eventually.

[ekib]

I talked to a couple of guys on BF.com too... it's a weird thing with that metal valve cover... you can line up a metal ruler and the cover LOOKS straight... but the older ones tended to warp... so I think they all do it eventually.

Maybe it's because these cars overheated or were close to overheating at some point in their life so the valve cover warped :dunno

Also, have you ever thought about machining it a bit? Don't know if it would be too low then. I just checked and the new ones at Pelican are $280. A bit much...

[JUS2K]

LuxoM3 and Ekib...thanks for the feedback guys. I guess I'll pony up and go buy back the new v/c gasket kit I just returned. I thought it might be something else. Anyway, I'm not sure about a new cover. But, I'll take measurements when I have the cover off and hope for the best. As usual, the board members are a valuable wealth of helpful information. Thanks a lot guys!! Peace. Pat

[LuxoM3]

If I recall magnesium is not the best alloy metal to be used for a high-temp environment...

I'm friends with the PO of my 1995 M3... I've got a receipt at 18k miles for a new valve cover gasket covered under warranty as it began to leak then... so in 1997, at 2 years old... not too much overheating going in there.

I wouldn't buy a valve cover from Pelican. Shop around. I got mine from Circle BMW for about $210.